MLB Player News

Phillies infielder Darin Ruf dealt with multiple injuries in 2014 and struggled during winter ball, but he's ready to put his disappointing season behind him and focus on continuing his transition to the outfield, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"I feel healthy," Ruf said Friday. "I did some things this offseason to increase mobility and take some of the muscular injuries out of the game."

Ruf checked in early for spring camp, citing his continued transition to the outfield as the main reason for his early arrival.

"Having two to three years experience out there, it's nothing new to me," Ruf said. "I know the drills, I know what to do. I know what to expect out there. I know what balls I can and can't get to. It makes me a lot more comfortable."

Ruf hit .235/.310/.402 with three home runs in 102 at-bats over 52 games in 2014.

Marlins manager Mike Redmond said Wednesday some of his spring lineups will feature Christian Yelich batting third and Giancarlo Stanton batting fourth, per the Sun-Sentinel.

"If I give you the lineup what are we going to talk about for the next six weeks?" Redmond quipped. "I want to mess around with some lineups in spring training, maybe hit Yellie a few times in a three-hole, hit Stanton a few times in the four-hole. I don't know how often all those guys will play together, but see where it works and how comfortable Yellie is in that two-hole.

"We know what [Martin] Prado can do. It's nice to have the flexibility. It will be fun to tinker and be able to mix and match and see where the best fit is."

Although Yelich proved to be a very productive leadoff batter in 2014, Redmond views the 23-year-old outfielder as a potential No. 3 hitter.

"I foresee this guy being a three-hole type hitter, run producer," Redmond said. "Will that be this year or next year? I don't know. That's probably up to him and how he does. There is always a little bit of caution giving him too much too quick, but I know he's a guy that can handle it, where ever we put him in the lineup."

The Tigers announced Wednesday first baseman Miguel Cabrera has been cleared to initiate non-impact baseball activity, including hitting and throwing, following Dr. Robert Anderson's review of Cabrera's CT scan. Cabrera underwent surgery in late October to remove bone spurs from his right ankle.

He will begin a running progression until full weight-bearing is achieved. While the team has no definite timetable for Cabrera, they remain optimistic he "could be ready close to opening day."

Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday has been pressing third baseman Matt Carpenter to be more aggressive at the plate at informal workouts before the official start of camp, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

"It’s great to walk and have long at-bats but he’s got the potential to hit 50 doubles. We’ve seen it," Holliday said. "He’s got the potential to hit 15 to 20 homers. We saw that in the postseason. It’s fine that first at-bat of the game if you want to take some pitches. But I’d like to see him be a little bit more aggressive. It’s in there. He showed it. It’s in there for all of us."

Carpenter, slugged three home runs during last year's National League Division Series after adopting a more aggressive approach, hit .272/.375/.375 with eight home runs and 59 RBI in 595 at-bats in 2014. The infielder also led the league in base on balls by drawing 95 walks.

Miguel Cabrera will get his surgically-repaired right foot examined on Tuesday, before the first baseman reports to Tigers' spring training next week, MLB.com reported. 

While removing a bone spur from Cabrera's right ankle during the offseason, Charlotte, NC surgeon Robert Anderson found and repaired a previously-unknown fracture in Cabrera's right foot. 

Anderson will check the progress of Cabrera's rehab from the surgeries and give his foot a CT. 

If Cabrera's healing has made sufficient progress, he'll be cleared to begin workouts with the rest of the Tigers next week, although trainers expect him to have some catching up to do with his conditioning. 

Update: Cabrera had the CT scan, as scheduled on Tuesday. The results were sent to Dr. Anderson, who will provide the team with a report on his condition on Wednesday. 

Giants manager Bruce Bochy outlined the plans he has for the batting order in 2015, per the San Francisco Chronicle.

He expects Angel Pagan to hit leadoff. He will be followed by Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Casey McGehee, Norichika Aoki and Brandon Crawford. The pitcher will hit ninth.

Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos doesn't see the team adding a second baseman before the start of the regular season, but the team is still exploring options to add to the bullpen via trade or free agency, MLB.com reports.

"Second base, I don't expect anything to change between now and the time camp starts," Anthopoulos told reporters Thursday. "We had some things we worked on, we just couldn't get close. The bullpen, those are still open, both in trade and free agency."

The Blue Jays appear ready to address the second-base position with one of four internal candidates: Ryan Goins, Maicer Izturis, Steve Tolleson or Danny Valencia. Goins, Tolleson and Valencia all had between 150 and 200 at-bats with the Blue Jays last season, while Izturis racked up 365 at-bats with the team in 2013.

Though the team is exploring bullpen options, the Blue Jays may not necessarily add a high-profile closer, as Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons expressed confidence that left-hander Brett Cecil or right-hander Aaron Sanchez could handle the role.

It's "pretty clear" the Dodgers would like outfield prospect Joc Pederson to win the everyday center fielder job in 2015, the Los Angeles Times reports, adding that the backup plan if Pederson falters could be rolling with Yasiel Puig in center.

"I don’t expect anything to be handed to me," Pederson said last weekend during the team's fan fest. "It never has been in the past. I still have to grow as a baseball player."

Carl Crawford is expected to be locked in at left field regardless of the performance of Pederson, who would start in center with Puig in right if the prospect wins a spot on the 25-man roster in spring training. If the team decides Pederson needs more minor-league seasoning, Puig could be shifted to center field, with Andre Ethier moving into the starting lineup and playing right field.

Twins designated hitter Kennys Vargas is already training at the team's spring-training complex in Fort Myers, Fla., despite the fact that position players aren't required to report until Feb. 27, MLB.com reports.

"I'm prepared," Vargas said. "I'm going to Spring Training to compete. I'm going to compete to be the DH and the backup to [Joe] Mauer. So I'm excited for that. I have to take advantage of the opportunity the Twins give me and do my job."

Vargas has been committed to his conditioning this offseason while working to improve his agility in order to improve his defense at first base. He is aiming to follow up a quality debut in 2014 with a better campaign in 2015.

"I'm focused on this year," Vargas said. "I want to do the same work I did last year, but I always try to go for more. Every year, I learn a little bit more. I want to help us win more games than last year."

Vargas hit .274/.316/.456 with nine home runs and 38 RBI in 215 at-bats with the Twins in 2014 while finishing with a .281/.360/.472 line and 17 home runs in 356 at-bats at the Double-A level.

After struggling in three seasons with the Astros, outfielder J.D. Martinez finally enjoyed a breakout season in 2014 with the Tigers. He said listening to some of the veteran players, including Miguel Cabrera, was a big help in his turnaround.

"I learned so much just from watching them and picking their brains, and it really did help me," Martinez said, per the Detroit Free Press.

General manager Dave Dombrowksi agrees learning from veteran players was key for Martinez.

"There's no doubt," Dombrowski said. "Look at how he used the opposite field. Look at how he drove the ball out of the ballpark to rightfield and centerfield. J.D. definitely benefited, and we saw how good of a hitter he became last year for us."

Martinez hit .315 with a .553 slugging percentage, .912 OPS, 23 home runs, 30 doubles and 76 RBI in 123 games. He said he has spent the offseason fine-tuning his swing after revamping it last offseason.

"Little hitches and bat habits that maybe I wanted to polish up from last year, and the years before that I didn't have as much time to do before the season," he said. "This year just gives me more time to polish up things I want to before the season starts."